Cocoa shown to reduce blood pressure and arterial stiffness in first real-life study

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SURREY

Cocoa only reduces blood pressure and arterial stiffness when elevated, a new study from the University of Surrey finds.

Cocoa flavanols have previously been found to lower blood pressure and arterial stiffness as much as some blood pressure medication. However, how effective flavanols are in everyday life in reducing blood pressure has remained unknown, as previous studies in this area have been performed in tightly controlled experimental settings.

Surrey’s new research reduces concerns that cocoa as a treatment for raised blood pressure could pose health risks by decreasing blood pressure when it is not raised, paving the way for it to be potentially used in clinical practice.

In the first study of its kind study, researchers set out to investigate the use of flavanols, a compound found in cocoa, in lowering blood pressure and arterial stiffness in individuals outside of clinical settings.

Christian Heiss, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Surrey, said:

“High blood pressure and arterial stiffness increases a person’s risk of heart disease and strokes, so it is crucial that we investigate innovative ways to treat such conditions.

“Before we even consider introducing cocoa into clinical practices, we need to test if the results previously reported in laboratory settings safely translate into real-world settings, with people going about their everyday lives.”

For several days, eleven healthy participants consumed, on alternating days, either six cocoa flavanol capsules or six placebo capsules containing brown sugar. Participants were provided with an upper arm blood pressure monitor and a finger clip measuring pulse wave velocity (PWV) which gauges levels of arterial stiffness.

Measurements of blood pressure and PWV were taken prior to consumption of the capsules and every 30 minutes after ingestion for the first three hours, and then hourly for the remaining nine hours. Researchers found that blood pressure and arterial stiffness were only lowered in participants if it was high, and there was no effect when the blood pressure was low in the morning.

Significantly, effects were also, for the first time, identified at eight hours after cocoa was consumed. Researchers believe that this second peak may be due to how bacteria in the gut metabolise cocoa flavanols.

Professor Heiss added:

“The positive impact cocoa flavanols have on our cardiovascular system, in particular, blood vessel function and blood pressure, is undeniable. Doctors often fear that some blood pressure tablets can decrease the blood pressure too much on some days.

“What we have found indicates that cocoa flavanols only decrease blood pressure if it is elevated. Working with participants’ personal health technologies showed us how variable blood pressure and arterial stiffness can be from day to day and shows the role of personal health monitors in developing and implementing effective personalised care.”

The research was published in Frontiers in Nutrition.

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Nutrition

DOI

10.3389/fnut.2022.886597 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Assessing Variability in Vascular Response to Cocoa With Personal Devices: A Series of Double-Blind Randomized Crossover n-of-1 Trials

Linking diversity at performing arts non-profits with marketing, funding, location

Peer-Reviewed Publication

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: EMPTY SEATS BEFORE A PERFORMANCE AT C.Y. STEPHENS AUDITORIUM, AMES, IA, 2022. view more 

CREDIT: CHRISTOPHER GANNON/IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

AMES, IA – While arts and cultural organizations across the U.S. have increasingly prioritized diversifying their customer base, many struggle to know if their efforts are moving the needle.

Findings from a new study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, may be able to help. The researchers tracked changes in the racial makeup and income levels of customers at two dozen nonprofit performing arts organizations over seven years. They then investigated how marketing and other factors, like location and funders, impacted what they define as customer diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

“One of the missions of arts and cultural organizations is to serve the public, but the perception is that the arts are for wealthy, white people. Our study examines the role that marketing can play in promoting customer DEI,” said Young Woong Park, co-author and assistant professor of information systems and business analytics at Iowa State University.

The arts organizations participating in the study produced and presented ballet, opera, theater, and symphonies in mid- to large-sized cities in the U.S. Park and his research team first conducted semi-structured interviews with 33 professionals at the organizations to identify their DEI priorities and challenges.

The researchers then built a model to analyze 18 million credit and debit card transactions (provided by the performing arts organizations) from 2011-2017. They filtered the data to include only addresses from households within 31 miles of each venue and matched it with U.S. Census Bureau data to estimate the racial and income make-up of the customers. The model also allowed the researchers to link certain factors (e.g., program diversity, targeted advertising, funding sources, venue location) to changes in the customer base. 

The findings and recommendations

The researchers’ study found boosting diverse program offerings and investing in advertising to reach underrepresented groups improved both racial and income representativeness (i.e., the extent to which the proportion of non-white/low-income customers matches the proportion in the community.)

Government funding had the greatest positive effect on racial and income representativeness, followed by funding from foundations. Individual support exerted less influence, and high corporate support actually decreased income representativeness. An interviewee shared many of the corporate sponsors are luxury brands and financial services, which may be more motivated to get their product or name in front of wealthy attendees.  

The study also found higher ticket prices negatively affected both forms of diversity but especially income representativeness. The researchers pointed out a 10% targeted price discount can increase income representativeness by nearly 3 percentage points.

The existing customer base impacts DEI, as well. A predominately white, wealthy crowd reinforces more of the same, said Park.

One of the interviewees said, “Getting a diverse audience to see diverse work can be more difficult than providing the work itself” when the venue is surrounded by predominately white neighborhoods.”

The researchers explained barriers to a performing arts venue can be physical (long distance from neighborhoods where people of color live) or psychological (neighborhood is or appears to be racially or economically exclusionary).

They emphasized communities could boost DEI in the arts by being more strategic about where they invest in new venues.

“When cities are developing arts districts, they could locate arts venues in lower income or more racially diverse neighborhoods, which could act as both an economic stimulus for the community and as a commitment to serving neighborhoods in a more equitable manner,” said Park.

Park calculated nonprofit performing arts venues in predominately non-white census tracts attract 70% more people of color than venues in predominately white census tracts. For predominately low-income census tracts, venues attract 41% more low-income customers than venues in predominately high-income census tracts.

The authors state “demographic trends and mounting societal pressures will likely make customer DEI increasingly relevant” in the performing arts and other sectors in the U.S. They view their study as something that can open the door to more research and help people feel like they belong in more spaces.

Glenn Voss and Zannie Voss at Southern Methodist University co-authored the paper.

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JOURNAL

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

DOI

10.1007/s11747-022-00883-6 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Advancing customer diversity, equity, and inclusion: Measurement, stakeholder influence, and the role of marketing

Study on Sub-Saharan Africa: Lower chances of individual prosperity in regions far from the coast

The further people in Sub-Saharan Africa live from the coast, the greater the likelihood of a comparatively low standard of living. This is the conclusion reached by economists at the University of Bayreuth in a study of 17 African coastal countries.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITÄT BAYREUTH

The further people in Sub-Saharan Africa live from the coast, the greater the likelihood of a comparatively low standard of living. This is the conclusion reached by economists at the University of Bayreuth in a study of 17 African coastal countries published in the Review of Development Economics. Proximity to ports attracts people with higher levels of knowledge and education, promotes the growth of cities and the expansion of infrastructure, and thus increases prosperity. To achieve similar standards of living, geographically determined disadvantages in regions of Africa far from the coast would have to be offset by targeted measures, which often do not happen.

The study draws on data encompassing 128,609 people in 11,261 locations in 17 coastal Sub-Saharan African countries. Overall, the data cover a 20-year period. The analysis reveals a statistically significant relationship between distance from the coast and the standard of living of private households. The closer people settle to ports, the more likely they are to own radio and television sets and motor vehicles. The farther they live from the coasts, the less likely they are to have full- or part-time employment. The scarcity of money, medicine, food, and water also increases with distance from the coast.

"Previously, in development economics research, there has been evidence that ports, as national and international trade centres, positively affect standard of living in the immediately adjacent inland region, and that more distant regions are significantly less likely to reap these benefits. We have contributed new evidence on this in other research as well. In our current study, however, we have for the first time been able to demonstrate significant correlations between people's individual prosperity and their distance from the coasts. Factors that play a central role and are significantly strengthened by proximity to ports are education and knowledge, urbanization, and infrastructure," says Prof. Dr. David Stadelmann, Professor of Economic Policy & Economic Development at the University of Bayreuth.

Using statistical calculations, he and his research assistant Frederik Wild have succeeded in clearly distinguishing the impact of coastal proximity on the prosperity of the population from the influence of other factors relevant to prosperity. These include, for example, climate and extreme weather events, people's access to rivers and lakes, the fertility of arable land, the risk of malaria, and landscape features that promote or hinder the movement of people and goods. The effects of demographic features such as the age structure of the population, settlement density, and proximity to major cities were also considered.

The two authors included data from surveys conducted by the Pan-African opinion research institute "Afrobarometer." Among other things, these included the assessment of organizations that serve cross-regional economic integration. "People in Sub-Saharan Africa who are farther from the coasts are more inclined to describe their respective regional economic communities – the Regional Economic Communities – or even the African Union as a whole, as helpful for their country. This expresses the expectation that regional economic integration can help strengthen trade in regions that are far from the coast and are thus disadvantaged," says Frederik Wild, who is studying trade integration in Africa as part of a research project in the Africa Multiple cluster of excellence at the University of Bayreuth.

The Bayreuth development economists emphasize that isolation from the coast by no means inevitably means people will be less prosperous. "Our research in recent years has shown that good governance also has a significant impact on the standard of living of the population. Political leaders at both national and regional levels can, for example, compensate for the economic disadvantages caused by unfavourable geographic factors by specifically strengthening access to educational institutions, developing infrastructure, providing advantageous investment conditions, and curbing corruption," Stadelmann explains.

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JOURNAL

Review of Development Economics

DOI

10.1111/rode.12901 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

News article

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Coastal proximity and individual living standards: Econometric evidence from georeferenced household surveys in sub-Saharan Africa

Marmosets practise calling their mother in the womb

A study shows that newborn marmosets’ earliest vocalisations to call for their parents begin in the womb, with findings that may also apply to humans

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ELIFE

 

IMAGE: STILLS OF A MARMOSET FETUS AND INFANT view more 

CREDIT: GHAZANFAR LAB, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY (CC BY 4.0)

Baby marmosets begin practising the face and mouth movements necessary to call their family  for help before they are born, shows a study published today in eLife.

This finding may also apply to humans, as ultrasounds in the third trimester of pregnancy have shown developing humans in the womb making crying-like movements.

The first cries and coos of humans and other primates are essential to their survival. In addition to allowing them to call their family members for help, these vocalisations and interactions with their parents and other caregivers lay the groundwork for more complex communication later in life.

“We wanted to know how those very first neonatal vocalisations develop,” says lead author Darshana Narayanan, who conducted the study as a graduate student at the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, New Jersey, US.

Narayanan and colleagues conducted ultrasounds two to three times per week in four pregnant marmosets for a total of 14–17 ultrasound sessions per marmoset, starting when the face first became visible on ultrasound and ending the day before birth. The team used the ultrasound scans to longitudinally track the head, face and mouth movements of the developing marmosets and compared them with the newborn marmosets’ movements when they called out.

Using frame-by-frame analysis, the team found that the developing marmosets’ head and mouth movements coordinated initially, but the mouth movement became distinct over time. Eventually, they became almost indistinguishable from movements made by crying newborn marmosets briefly separated from their mothers within the first 24 hours after birth. 

To verify that these movements were not generic head and mouth movements, the team also compared pre and postnatal licking movements and movements associated with another marmoset vocalisation called a “twitter”. Their results showed that the pattern of crying movements before and following birth was distinct from the licking or twitter movements.

“Our experiments show that marmosets begin practising the movements needed for important social calls even before they can generate a sound,” Narayanan says. She adds that studying these movements further in marmosets may help scientists learn more about the development of social vocalisations in other primates, including humans.

“Marmoset monkeys offer a special opportunity to study primate vocal development,” concludes senior author Asif Ghazanfar, Professor at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University. “Like humans, marmosets are very social and learn to vocalise through interactions with their parents.”

##

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eLife

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About eLife

eLife transforms research communication to create a future where a diverse, global community of scientists and researchers produces open and trusted results for the benefit of all. Independent, not-for-profit and supported by funders, we improve the way science is practised and shared. From the research we publish, to the tools we build, to the people we work with, we’ve earned a reputation for quality, integrity and the flexibility to bring about real change. eLife receives financial support and strategic guidance from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Max Planck Society and Wellcome. Learn more at https://elifesciences.org/about.

To read the latest Neuroscience research published in eLife, visit https://elifesciences.org/subjects/neuroscience.

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JOURNAL

eLife

DOI

10.7554/eLife.78485 

ARTICLE TITLE

Prenatal development of neonatal vocalizations

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

26-Jul-2022

Researchers confirm brain region’s role in mind-body communication

Findings could advance treatment for Parkinson’s disease

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

University of Iowa researchers have confirmed in a new study that a specific region in the brain is critical to governing the mind’s communication with the body’s motor control system. The findings could yield advances in treatment for Parkinson’s disease, as declining motor coordination is a central symptom of the disorder.

In experiments with humans, the researchers pinpointed the subthalamic nucleus as the region in the brain that communicates with the motor system to help the body stop an action. This communication is vital because it helps humans avoid surprises and react to potentially dangerous or unforeseen circumstances.

The subthalamic nucleus is a tiny grouping of cells that is part of the basal ganglia, which is a key circuit in controlling movement. The basal ganglia takes initial motor commands generated in the brain and either amplify or halt specific parts of those commands as they pass from the central nervous system to the spinal cord.

“You can think of the subthalamic nucleus as the core region in this ‘halting’ of extra, unwanted components of compound movements, as it is the last relay station before the output nuclei of the basal ganglia, which then communicates these commands to the wider motor system,” says Jan Wessel, associate professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Iowa and the corresponding author on the study.

Previous research had indicated the subthalamic nucleus’ role in this stage of brain-motor control communication, but the hypothesis had not been directly tested in humans until now. To do that, the researchers used some ingenious techniques. First, they recruited 20 patients who have Parkinson’s disease, which affects motor control. These patients had implanted deep-brain stimulators, which the researchers used to activate or deactivate the subthalamic nucleus. They then tracked those changes to motor-control activity through a simple stop-action task, monitoring the brain-motor control responses through a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Parkinson’s disease patients are treated regularly with deep-brain stimulation, but the addition of transcranial magnetic stimulation allowed the researchers to confirm the subthalamic nucleus’ definitive role. Wessel partnered on the experiments with Jeremy Greenlee, professor and the Arnold H. Menezes Chair in the Department of Neurosurgery, who cares for patients with Parkinson’s disease.

“Deep-brain stimulation is the only method to causally and systematically influence the activity of deeply embedded brain nuclei like the subthalamic nucleus in awake, behaving humans,” says Wessel, also an associate professor in the Department of Neurology. “However, combining deep-brain stimulation with transcranial magnetic stimulation is a highly complicated and novel technical endeavor, especially in awake, behaving humans.”

The subthalamic nucleus–motor control link is important, Wessel says, because it puts to rest a central question in the brain’s communication with the body’s motor system, especially how an initiated action is suddenly halted. But it has potential benefits to patients, too.

“The subthalamic nucleus is a key therapeutic target in Parkinson’s disease,” Wessel says. “Indeed, just like it was done for the patient sample in our study, implantation of stimulation electrodes into the subthalamic nucleus is a highly successful treatment option for the motoric symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Our study provides some mechanistic insights into this potential patient-care benefit.”

The study, “A causal role for the human subthalamic nucleus in non-selective cortico-motor inhibition,” was published online July 15 in the journal Current Biology.

Contributing authors, all from Iowa, include Darcy Diesburg and Nathan Chalkley.

The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Science Foundation funded the research.

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JOURNAL

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.067 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

A causal role for the human subthalamic nucleus in non-selective cortico-motor inhibition

Enthusiasm for green energy varies, and few are willing to pay more for it

New green energy survey reveals Americans generally fall into four categories: Evangelists, Promoters, Passives or Detractors; more than half say the long-term benefits of green energy outweigh the cost, but only one-third are willing to pay more

Reports and Proceedings

STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Whether they identify as Evangelists, Promoters, Passives or Detractors of green energy, few Americans are willing to pay more to adopt green energy, according to the Stevens TechPulse Report: Green Energy Perceptions and Usage. The national poll, conducted in June 2022, surveyed 2,210 adults on behalf of Stevens Institute of Technology by Morning Consult and examined Americans’ views on a wide range of green energy-related issues.

“Green energy is at the heart of America’s energy transition,” said Philip Odonkor, an assistant professor in the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens. “This survey highlights the tremendous progress made in sparking public interest, but also exposes the bigger challenge that lies ahead — converting that momentum into tangible action.”  

Green Energy Adoption Varies from Evangelists to Detractors

Based on the survey, there is no national consensus on green energy adoption. Generally, responses aligned with one of four categories in a spectrum of very likely to very unlikely to seek out green energy technologies for personal use. Self-reported data describe the demographics most closely associated with each category.

Evangelists (26%)
Very likely to seek out green energy technologies for personal use
Evangelists skew male, younger, most likely to be urban, most educated

Promoters (30%)
Somewhat likely to seek out green energy technologies for personal use
Promoters skew female, urban/suburban, college educated

Passives (27%)
Neutral on seeking out green energy technologies for personal use
Passives skew female, slightly older, suburban/rural, less educated

Detractors (10%)
Unlikely to seek out green energy technologies for personal use
Detractors skew male, most likely to be older and rural, least educated

 Don’t know/no opinion (7%)

Price Is Top of Mind

The essential question is whether and how much people will pay more to use green energy. More than half of adults (52%) say the long-term benefits of green energy outweigh the cost, but only one-third (36%) say they’re willing to pay more for green energy. And when it comes to how much more, adults overall say they would be willing to pay 10% more per month for green energy related consumption. Among Evangelists, this rose to 19%, with Promoters at 12%, Passives at 9% and Detractors at 1%.

When weighing factors about whether to purchase green energy-related products (e.g., solar panels), adults view price (86%) as the most important aspect, although function/performance (82%) and ease of maintenance (83%) are also important overall. When actually making a green energy-related product purchase, more than six in 10 (63%) say price is their primary consideration, and that environmental impact is secondary to price.

Importance of Higher Education in Preparing Students for Green Careers

Green careers, as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor, are “any occupation that is affected by activities such as conserving energy, development alternative energy, reducing pollution, or recycling.” When asked how important it is, if at all, for universities/colleges to offer education that prepares students for green careers, three in four adults (73%) say it’s important versus only 4% who say it’s not important. Nearly all Evangelists (97%) say it’s important, closely followed by 90% of Promoters with a solid majority of Passives (60%), and 36% of Detractors.

“This survey illustrates the challenges our society faces in building consensus around policies, funding models and increasing adoption of sustainable energy solutions for the future,” said Nariman Farvardin, president of Stevens Institute of Technology. “It is also abundantly clear that universities such as Stevens Institute of Technology must play a critical role in increasing public awareness, educating the future energy workforce and contributing its R&D capacity to advance the field.”

Responsibility for Green Energy Adoption in Everyday Life

When it comes to the future of green energy, half of all adults (48%) view larger entities, such as

governments and businesses, as well as individuals and households as equally responsible for adopting its use in everyday life.

Fuzziness on Terminology

There is a lack of clarity among Americans on exactly what green energy is. The majority of adults (48%) say they are most familiar with the term renewable energy, while 35% say clean energy and only 16% say green energy technology. There is overlap among phrases used by survey participants with “solar and wind” noted for all three and “electric vehicles” being examples for clean and green energy technology.

“Green energy has an identity problem,” said Odonkor, an expert in sustainable energy and energy optimization. “The rich diversity of overlapping terms — from clean energy, to sustainable and renewable energy — reflects and reinforces confusion in public understanding.”

This survey is the second in the Stevens TechPulse Report series conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Stevens Institute of Technology to elucidate public understanding, acceptance and concerns about emerging technology, and its impact on humanity and society.

Learn more about this survey and Stevens TechPulse Report: stevens.edu/news/stevens-techpulse-report

Methodology

This poll was conducted on behalf of Stevens Institute of Technology by Morning Consult between June 11-June 12, 2022 among a sample of 2,210 adults. The interviews were conducted online, and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on gender, educational attainment, age, race, and region. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of +/- 2%.

– Stevens –

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Stevens Institute of Technology is a premier, private research university situated in Hoboken, New Jersey. Since our founding in 1870, technological innovation has been the hallmark of Stevens’ education and research. Within the university’s three schools and one college, 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students collaborate closely with faculty in an interdisciplinary, student-centric, entrepreneurial environment. Academic and research programs spanning business, computing, engineering, the arts and other disciplines actively advance the frontiers of science and leverage technology to confront our most pressing global challenges. The university continues to be consistently ranked among the nation’s leaders in career services, post-graduation salaries of alumni, and return on tuition investment.

Study: One in five adults don’t want children — and they’re deciding early in life

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade paved the way for limits on abortion but also created uncertainty around the future of birth control. This could have far-reaching implications for many people as a research team from Michigan State University found over one in five Michigan adults do not want children.

“We found that 21.6% of adults, or about 1.7 million people, in Michigan do not want children and therefore are ‘childfree.’ That’s more than the population of Michigan’s nine largest cities,” said Zachary Neal, associate professor in MSU’s psychology department and co-author of the study. 

The study — published in Scientific Reports — used a set of three questions to identify childfree individuals separately from parents and other types of nonparents. The researchers used data from a representative sample of 1,500 adults who completed MSU’s State of the State Survey, conducted by the university’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. Because different types of nonparents are impossible to distinguish in official statistics, Neal explained that this study is one of the first to specifically count childfree adults.

“People — especially women — who say they don’t want children are often told they’ll change their mind, but the study found otherwise,” said Jennifer Watling Neal, associate professor in the psychology department at MSU and co-author of the study. “People are making the decision to be childfree early in life, most often in their teens and twenties. And, it’s not just young people claiming they don’t want children. Women who decided in their teens to be childfree are now, on average, nearly 40 and still do not have children.”

The study was conducted in Michigan, but according to the 2021 census, Michigan is demographically similar to the United States as a whole. Because of this, Neal said, if the pattern holds up nationally, it would mean 50 to 60 million Americans are childfree.

“Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, a large number of Americans are now at risk of being forced to have children despite not wanting them,” said Watling Neal. If further precedents are overturned and birth control becomes harder to access, many young women who have decided to be childfree may also have difficulty avoiding pregnancy.

Because so many people are childfree, the researchers said this group warrants more attention. They hope future work will expand beyond Michigan and will help the public understand both why people decide to be childfree and the consequences they experience from that decision.

(Note for media: Please include the following link to the study in all online media coverage: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15728-z)

Contact: Kaylie Crowe, University Communications: (563)451-3976 crowekay@msu.edu; Kim Ward, University Communications: (517) 432-0117, kward@msu.edu  

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 165 years. One of the world’s leading research universities, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery to make a better, safer, healthier world for all while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.

For MSU news on the Web, go to MSUToday. Follow MSU News on Twitter at twitter.com/MSUnews.

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DOI

10.1038/s41598-022-15728-z 

Exposure to ‘forever chemicals’ costs US billions in health costs

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NYU LANGONE HEALTH / NYU GROSSMAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Daily exposure to a class of chemicals used in the production of many household items may lead to cancer, thyroid disease, and childhood obesity, a new study shows. The resulting economic burden is estimated to cost Americans a minimum of $5.5 billion and as much as $63 billion over the lifetime of the current population.

The new work revolves around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of over 4,700 manmade chemicals that experts have detected for decades in the blood of millions of people. The chemicals are used, for example, in the production of water- and oil-resistant clothing, electronics, and nonstick cookware, and people are thought to ingest them as food comes into contact with packaging. The substances are believed to disrupt the function of hormones, signaling compounds that influence many bodily processes.

Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new study in roughly 5,000 Americans identified 13 medical conditions that may result from PFAS exposure, such as infertility, diabetes, and endometriosis, a painful disorder of the uterus. Together, the diseases generate medical bills and reduce worker productivity across a lifetime to create the costs measured by the study, say the study authors.

“Our findings add to the substantial and still-mounting body of evidence suggesting that exposure to PFAS is harming our health and undermining the economy,” says study co-author Linda Kahn, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Population Health at NYU Langone Health.

Previous investigations have quantified the medical burden and financial costs of low birth weight due to PFAS exposure. However, the new study, publishing online July 26 in the journal Exposure and Health, incorporates a much broader range of health consequences across the lifespan, says Kahn.

For the investigation, the researchers determined how many Americans were likely exposed to PFAS chemicals in 2018 using blood samples obtained from adults and children who participated in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Next, the study team analyzed data from dozens of studies in the past decade that explored diseases connected to the substances.

The research team used models from earlier investigations to estimate the national economic cost of the medical bills and lost worker productivity that resulted from the top five medical conditions that had the strongest links to PFAS exposure. These included low birth weight, childhood obesity, kidney and testicular cancers, and hypothyroidism.

Among the findings, the investigation revealed that childhood obesity was the largest contributor to the overall economic toll of PFAS exposure, costing about $2.7 billion. Hypothyroidism in women, a condition in which the thyroid cannot release enough hormones into the bloodstream, was the next highest contributor at $1.26 billion.

The study investigators also expanded the scope of their economic estimates to include eight other conditions with preliminary links to PFAS exposure, including endometriosis, obesity in adults, and pneumonia in children. When such diseases were considered, the total costs reached as high as $63 billion.

“Our results strongly support the recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to lower the safe allowable level of these substances in water,” says study senior author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP. “Based on our estimates, the cost of eradicating contamination and replacing this class of chemical with safer alternatives is ultimately justified when considering the tremendous economic and medical risks of allowing them to persist in the environment.”

Trasande, the Jim G. Hendrick MD Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at NYU Langone, cautions that despite the vast research on the health risks of PFAS, few studies have explored the effects of this exposure over time.

The research team next plans to examine the long-term risks of PFAS, adds Trasande, who also serves as director of NYU Langone’s Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards. In addition, the study authors plan to estimate the economic burden of other endocrine-disrupting contaminants, such as bisphenols, substances used in many plastics and can linings, fire retardants, and pesticides. Trasande is also a professor in NYU Langone’s Department of Population Health.        

Funding for the study was provided by National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences grants P30ES000260, P2CES033423, and K99/R00ES030403.

Trasande has received financial support from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Audible, Paidos, and Kobunsha, as well as travel support from the Endocrine Society, the World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, Japan Environment and Health Ministries, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He also serves on scientific advisory boards for Beautycounter, IS-Global, and Footprint. The terms and conditions of these arrangements are being managed in accordance with the policies of NYU Langone Health.

In addition to Kahn and Trasande, Vladislav Obsekov, MD, at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, served as the study’s first author.

 

Media Inquiries:

Shira Polan

Phone: 212-404-4279

shira.polan@nyulangone.org

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JOURNAL

Exposure and Health

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Exposure to ‘Forever Chemicals’ Costs U.S. Billions in Health Costs

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

26-Jul-2022

COI STATEMENT

Trasande has received financial support from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Audible, Paidos, and Kobunsha, as well as travel support from the Endocrine Society, the World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, Japan Environment and Health Ministries, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He also serves on scientific advisory boards for Beautycounter, IS-Global, and Footprint. The terms and conditions of these arrangements are being managed in accordance with the policies of NYU Langone Health.

Natural clean-up: Bacteria can remove plastic pollution from lakes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

 

IMAGE: A FRESHWATER LAKE IN NORWAY, ONE OF 29 EUROPEAN LAKES THAT WERE PART OF THE STUDY. view more 

CREDIT: SAMUEL WOODMAN

A study of 29 European lakes has found that some naturally-occurring lake bacteria grow faster and more efficiently on the remains of plastic bags than on natural matter like leaves and twigs.

The bacteria break down the carbon compounds in plastic to use as food for their growth.

The scientists say that enriching waters with particular species of bacteria could be a natural way to remove plastic pollution from the environment.

The effect is pronounced: the rate of bacterial growth more than doubled when plastic pollution raised the overall carbon level in lake water by just 4%.

The results suggest that the plastic pollution in lakes is ‘priming’ the bacteria for rapid growth –  the bacteria are not only breaking down the plastic but are then more able to break down other natural carbon compounds in the lake.

Lake bacteria were found to favour plastic-derived carbon compounds over natural ones. The researchers think this is because the carbon compounds from plastics are easier for the bacteria to break down and use as food.

The scientists caution that this does not condone ongoing plastic pollution. Some of the compounds within plastics can have toxic effects on the environment, particularly at high concentrations.

The findings are published today in the journal Nature Communications.

“It’s almost like the plastic pollution is getting the bacteria’s appetite going. The bacteria use the plastic as food first, because it’s easy to break down, and then they’re more able to break down some of the more difficult food – the natural organic matter in the lake,” said Dr Andrew Tanentzap in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences, senior author of the paper.

He added: “This suggests that plastic pollution is stimulating the whole food web in lakes, because more bacteria means more food for the bigger organisms like ducks and fish.”

The effect varied depending on the diversity of bacterial species present in the lake water – lakes with more different species were better at breaking down plastic pollution.

CAPTION

A freshwater lake in Norway, one of the 29 European lakes analysed as part of the study.

CREDIT

Andrew Tanentzap

A study published by the authors last year found that European lakes are potential hotspots of microplastic pollution.

When plastics break down they release simple carbon compounds. The researchers found that these are chemically distinct to the carbon compounds released as organic matter like leaves and twigs break down.

The carbon compounds from plastics were shown to be derived from additives unique to plastic products, including adhesives and softeners.

The new study also found that bacteria removed more plastic pollution in lakes that had fewer unique natural carbon compounds. This is because the bacteria in the lake water had fewer other food sources.

The results will help to prioritise lakes where pollution control is most urgent. If a lake has a lot of plastic pollution, but low bacterial diversity and a lot of different natural organic compounds, then its ecosystem will be more vulnerable to damage.

“Unfortunately, plastics will pollute our environment for decades. On the positive side, our study helps to identify microbes that could be harnessed to help break down plastic waste and better manage environmental pollution," said Professor David Aldridge in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, who was involved in the study.

The study involved sampling 29 lakes across Scandinavia between August and September 2019. To assess a range of conditions, these lakes differed in latitude, depth, area, average surface temperature and diversity of dissolved carbon-based molecules.

The scientists cut up plastic bags from four major UK shopping chains, and shook these in water until their carbon compounds were released.

At each lake, glass bottles were filled with lake water. A small amount of the ‘plastic water’ was added to half of these, to represent the amount of carbon leached from plastics into the environment, and the same amount of distilled water was added to the others. After 72 hours in the dark, bacterial activity was measured in each of the bottles.

The study measured bacterial growth - by increase in mass, and the efficiency of bacterial growth - by the amount of carbon-dioxide released in the process of growing.

In the water with plastic-derived carbon compounds, the bacteria had doubled in mass very efficiently. Around 50% of this carbon was incorporated into the bacteria in 72 hours.

"Our study shows that when carrier bags enter lakes and rivers they can have dramatic and unexpected impacts on the entire ecosystem. Hopefully our results will encourage people to be even more careful about how they dispose of plastic waste," said Eleanor Sheridan in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences, first author of the study who undertook the work as part of a final-year undergraduate project.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-022-31691-9 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

ARTICLE TITLE

Plastic pollution fosters more microbial growth in lakes than natural organic matter

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

26-Jul-2022